| |
|
|
| » August 2006 |
 |
|
| |
| Engaging Employees and Reaping the Rewards of Retention |
| |
 |
The life-blood of any organization is the people behind it. So, as a manager, how do you keep your champions playing at the top of their game for longer periods? How do you engage your employees and retain their talents for your organization for years to come? |
| |
How to Engage
Ask yourself one simple question: Do my employees enjoy their work? Do they enjoy the nature of their work, the people they work with, and the culture of the company? Employees who say they love their jobs feel there is some kind of purpose to what they are doing on a daily basis. These employees feel there is some kind of societal or “greater good” type of benefit in their work; the job is not just a paycheck to them. So align your employees towards a greater purpose and they will feel more engaged in their roles.
Another simple and effective way to engage your top talent is to teach, challenge and test them. People want to learn from, and be challenged by, the work that they do. Conversely, people’s tolerance levels for mundane tasks are pretty low. By challenging employees and allowing them to learn and grow as individuals at work, you engage their brains in different, stimulating ways.
One sure-fire way to keep your talent engaged is to give rewards for excellence. A recent wwwork! poll discovered that nearly 3 in 4 people believe money is the best way to keep employees engaged and interested. About 1 in 5 said increased benefits such as more vacation time or flexible work hours is more effective. Employees compare themselves to others in the market place often and so they are familiar with what their internal equity is, versus the average market equity for someone in their position. This is especially true of employees who have a high market demand. These employees tend to be those who are higher paid since they typically have high-risk, high-pressure jobs.
Why People Leave
Many employees who choose to leave are often disengaged or disgruntled, and out of sync with their boss. They resign due to lack of communication with their managers and peers. When disengaged employees come to you for guidance, you have a chance to remedy their attitude through active communication. But more often than not, uninterested employees are difficult to reengage.
By far one of the most cited reasons for leaving a job is “no growth opportunity.” People want career progression and they leave if they feel the work they’re doing only leads them to a dead-end job. Sometimes people cite lack of growth because they were passed over for a promotion. After being passed over for a promotion a couple of times, employees start to believe that they’re stuck in a dead-end job. Stuck, that is, until they resign. Again, communicate with your employees. Acknowledge their hard work and, even though they didn’t get a promotion, stress that they are appreciated.
Other times, the reasons for leaving are plain and easy to understand: moving to a different city, long commutes, or poor work/ life balance. Employees can be easily swayed by flexible hours or the chance to work from home. This is because they are enticed by greener pastures. Other companies might engage your employees by enticing them with new and novel roles, or promises of higher pay, or faster career growth. Disengaged employees will jump at the chance to join a company whom they believe has their future and well-being in mind. So you have to keep your employee’s future top-of-mind if you want to keep them!
Contrary to common sense, most people aren’t motivated to look for a new job because of money. What drives their decision to leave is their perceived issues and unhappiness with the company or their colleagues. The decision to look might not be wholly conscious. In such cases, a job ad that is usually ignored might get more conscious attention. Yet other times they might be actively pursued by friends or recruiters. If this is the case, then money can definitely be used as an enticement. Of course, if there is a big gap between one’s salary and the average salary in the open market (usually 15% or higher), then money becomes a bigger driver in looking for a new job. Value your employees by paying them their value.
When your people start actively searching for new jobs, they start to rationalize their move. They list things they dislike about their job and the organization. These rationalizations become the trigger to start a move. You can stem this potential loss by actively acknowledging your employees, either publicly or privately. People like to be congratulated and recognized. Show your employees you are grateful for having them and they will appreciate you for it.
Track Attrition & Asking "Why"
If your people are leaving, you have to know why. If your turnover rate is higher than 10%, higher than your company’s historical average, or is higher than the industry average, ask yourself why? Is someone driving out your talent? Is it an aberration? Your talent might choose to leave for better opportunities. Or they might leave because they are afraid everyone else is jumping ship. For example, if your best manager, Joe, leaves, other managers might start to question why. They might leave because they think Joe’s exit means the company is in trouble or because they believe Joe to be the best and his departure means a weaker organization. Before you know it, half your managers are gone. And so, one employee leaving can cause an exodus.
In order to get to the bottom of why your employees are leaving, you have to conduct exit interviews. Getting meaningful answers from exit interviews can be difficult but possible. Just remember that there is no blame during exit interviews. Simply explain that the reason for the exit interview is to understand the driving desire that led them to leave. These answers can also be found from close colleagues of the departing employee, either their direct reports or their supervisors. So ask your employees because they usually know what’s going on.
Retain & Add Value
Infuse energy into your company to keep your employees. There is a variety of effective ways of energizing employees besides the ones that have already been discussed. Some organizations infuse excitement through company gatherings, more perks, increase compensation, or better training. All of these techniques have a cost, and that cost has to be weighed against the loss of talent. Gage the pulse of your employees to determine which method is best suited for your organization. Even a simple event such as “Casual Fridays” can liven up an office. Though be cognizant and ensure that your efforts are strategic. Do they add value to the company or take away from it? Remember that different jobs have different impacts on your company and you should act strategically.
Being the Gold Standard
During a time of full employment, like what we are seeing in Canada right now, employee engagement is down because there are plenty of opportunities to choose from, as well as ample solicitation by recruiters. Employee loyalty is diminishing and it will only get worse for companies because it doesn’t take much for employees to get unnerved by their selected industry or company. If they believe there is little growth for them or there is a better opportunity elsewhere, they will leave.
As a manager, you have to know what’s going on and be proactive, not reactive; understanding, not questioning. Engage your employees and understand them. Instead of saying “how dare you leave!” say “help me understand why.” Take the opportunity to learn from your employees. This can only clarify your comprehension of the way they think, which is usually the typical knee-jerk reaction to blame “management” – which is not meant as a personal attack towards you. This is why managers are usually the last to know about discontentment. If you react like a typical manager with the “how dare you leave!” approach, you are only reinforcing the stereotype that all management cares about is themselves. Prove them wrong.
A departing employee can both be a signal, and an opportunity to engage those that choose to stay. Gold-standard organizations do not berate exiting employees because this devalues those who are loyal. Show your remaining employees that they are indeed valued by communicating with them, rewarding them, and appreciating their work. Let them know that you want them to stay, and make them feel that if they decide to leave they will be treated with respect for their valuable service. Be the gold-standard that champions want to work and play for, for a long time to come. |
|
| |
 |
|
|
|
|
